BOOK REVIEWS

Gary Morgan and Bencie Woll, eds., Sign Language Research Contributes to a
Better Understanding of Language Acquisition, A Review of Directions in Sign
Language Acquisition

Charlotte Evans

ABSTRACTS

Translation Challenges and Strategies:
The ASL Translation of a Computer-Based, Psychiatric Diagnostic Interview

This article describes the translation goals, challenges, strategies, and solutions employed
in the development of a computer-based, self-administered, psychiatric diagnostic instrument,
the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for the Deaf (D-DIS-IV) in American Sign Language (ASL) with
English captions. The article analyzes the impact of the differences between ASL and English as
well as the influence upon psychiatric content of the life experiences of respondents with normal
hearing and deafness. The authors describe solutions for bridging these differences in the
translation of a self-administered, computer-based, psychiatric diagnostic interview.

Remarkably few studies have examined the outcomes of sign language interpreting.
Three experiments reported here examine deaf students’ comprehension of
interpreting in American Sign Language and English-based signing
(transliteration) as a function of their sign language skills and preferences.
In Experiments 1 and 2, groups of deaf students varying in their sign language
skills viewed either an ASL or English-based interpretation of a nontechnical
lecture, followed by either a written comprehension test (Experiment 1) or a
signed comprehension test (Experiment 2). Experiment 3 involved a more technical
(physics) lecture, separate testing of students with greater ASL or
English-based sign skills and preferences, and control of students’ prior
content knowledge. Results consistently demonstrate that regardless of the deaf
students’ reported sign language skills and preferences, they were equally
competent in comprehending ASL interpreting and English transliteration, but
they gained less knowledge from lectures than hearing peers in comparison
groups. The results raise questions about how much deaf students actually learn
in interpreted classrooms and the link between their communication preferences
and learning.

Sign Language Interpreting: The Relationship
between Metalinguistic Awareness and the Production of Interpreting Omissions

This article presents the findings of the first linguistic analysis of sign
language interpreting carried out in Australia. A study was conducted on ten
Australian Sign Language/English interpreters to determine the rate and
occurrence of interpreting omissions and the interpreters’ level of metalinguistic
awareness in relation to their production of interpreting omissions.
After videotaping interpretations, analyzing the interpreters’ output,
and conducting postinterpreting task reviews and retrospective interviews,
the authors report that all the interpreters appeared to have high levels
of metalinguistic awareness with regard to their production of interpreting
omissions. This finding led to the definition of five categories of interpreting
omissions: conscious strategic, conscious intentional, conscious unintentional,
conscious receptive, and unconscious omissions. The findings of this study
can be applied in the education of signed and spoken interpreters not only in
Australia but also worldwide.